She giggled. “Tis not, but I do think about it all the time.”
Quentin said, “Seriously, Beaty, you think about a statue of Mookie all the time?”
“Aye, and Saddle, ye ken, Quentin. Twould bemajestic.”
“I guess it would be.” He leaned over and kissed her cheek, then kissed Noah who had fallen asleep in her arms.
She whispered, “I am goin’ tae take Noah tae bed. Twas a long day, so I will likely fall asleep myself, see everyone in the morn. Now that ye are thinking about the bronze of Mookie I will play a bagpipe Reveille at dawn tae show ye how grand it will be.”
We all laughed and she carried Noah from the room, with Mookie following along behind her.
Sophie got up too. “I will take Junior tae our room as well.”
We all said goodnight.
This might have been a sensible time to take Jack to bed too, but he was curled up asleep in my arms, and I wasn’t ready to leave. I loved this night, these conversations, hated for it to end. The brisket aroma still hung in the air, mixing with the faint scent of rain outside. Everyone was leaning back in their chairs, full and content, the kids in the other room had a game going that included yelling.
Magnus jokingly shook his head at Quentin. “Colonel Quentin, is there a possibility of turnin’ Beaty from this idea?”
Quentin shook his head. “Not a bit, Boss, we’re going to have a bronze of Mookie and Saddle by the end of summer I bet,” he sighed. “You heard her, it will be majestic, there’s nothing I can do.”
Magnus laughed. “Aye, I guess we will hae tae open the coffers tae Madame Beaty’s new whim. Though I suppose tis better a bronze statue than another live animal underfoot.”
Ash leaned against Lochie’s shoulder. He said, “I will get ye home soon.”
Hayley grumbled, “I guess I’m doing the dishes.”
I said, “You love doing the dishes. You usually won’t let anyone help you.”
“I do, I hate the helpers. I like when all the monsters have left the kitchen, I turn down the lights, turn on my favorite songs, and just wash and sing. Clears my mind after a long day.”
Fraoch said, “In a way tis like a fishin’ trip.”
Magnus said, “Or goin’ tae the walls for guard duty.”
“I guess it is.”
Fraoch said, “Ye hae a bonny singin’ voice, wife, I could listen tae ye for hours.”
She rolled up in his arm and he kissed her forehead.
I said, “I don’t know why you were focused onmywedding anniversary, I don’t usually celebrate it, because time is going all willy-nilly, you know, and this summer is going to besomany birthdays. Let’s ignore anniversaries and focus on birthdays, that will be plenty of parties.”
Hayley said, “Speak for yourself, just because you are unromantic doesn’t mean the rest of us shouldn’t celebrate anniversaries.”
“When’s yours, coming up?”
She sighed. “I forget, time is all willy-nilly.” She looked at Fraoch, “When did we get married?”
“Twas a market day but was called for the rain.”
She grinned. “And I argued with you because you wouldn’t ever tell me a straight date, it was always something like ‘just past the crow’s yell at the first light after the whole moon.’”
He shrugged good-naturedly. “Tis a great way tae ken the date! Ye ken a number, ye are always lost — och here we are with the argument again. Twill say it on our gravestone, I loved her, though she never truly knew how tae tell the time of the year.”
She grinned. “What is today?”
“Today is the day of the third summer storm since the Flower moon, och nae, ye are lucky ye hae me here tae tell ye.”
